Sunday, August 7, 2016

The 70s English jazz/fusion band Brand X will be making
their long awaited return this fall, reuniting for a handful of dates this
October. Though there were rumors of a reunion in 2012, they never came to
fruition, much to the frustration of fans of the band, which has not played
regularly since 1999.

This time it's real. The
band is in rehearsals and tickets are on sale (I got mine). The band, helmed by
guitarist John Goodsall and bassist Percy Jones (the band's only consistent
members since their founding in 1975) will include drummer Kenwood Dennard, who
toured with the band in the late 70s,
and new additions Chris Clark on keyboards, and Scott Weinberger on percussion.
The upcoming tour is set to feature work from the bands first three
albums: Unorthodox Behaviour (1976), Moroccan
Roll (1977), and their live album Livestock (1977), the last of which featuring
Dennard, then recently off his stint with guitarist Pat Martino.

While their sound is most identifiably rooted in
jazz/fusion, the band's fan base largely consists of fans of English
progressive and experimental rock,
largely due to the founding members' work
in the genres. Goodsall had been a member of the prog rock band Atomic Rooster,
while Percy Jones would also come to be known for his work with Brian Eno and
Soft Machine. Phil Collins' notable contributions to the band's 70s output also
raised awareness of the band for some. In fact, to this day, hipsters
everywhere play old recordings of Brand X to their unsuspecting friends to show
the extent of his drumming chops. The downside to this is that, for some, Brand
X came to be referred to as "Phil Collins's other band," which
clearly does a disservice to the band and ignores the extent of their prowess
and significance. The fact that the Brand X roster, particularly in their
original heyday between 1976 and 1979, featured a rotating cast of some the
best players within progressive rock and jazz/fusion genres is often unfairly overlooked
because of this. During this period the band would feature musicians such as the
percussionist/composer Morris Pert, drummer Chuck Burgi (presently in Billy
Joel's band), keyboardist Peter Robinson (formerly of the woefully underrated progressive
rock trio, Quatermass, and later the composer of the score for the movie Return
of the Living Dead, Part 2... seriously, no joke), and former Headhunters
drummer Mike Clark.

Also, while most fusion bands of the early 70s were based
around a definite bandleader who dictated

the style and whose instrumental
leads were more prominently featured, Brand X seemed more democratic. On the
first several albums, no particular composer dominated, and the sound favored
no instrumentalist. While at times, this could lead to some amorphous
improvisations, usually the sound was alternately ethereal and powerful, with
solid hooks, driving rhythms and a healthy injection of funk. There was a
sharply honed musical communication and sense of exploration and mischief
(also, their album's liner notes are some of the funniest of the era). Also,
unlike some of the most indulgent examples of fusion, even at their most
virtuosic, they never let instrumental pyrotechnics overshadow the groove.

In spite of this, however, it has proven to be difficult to
find Brand X's place in the musical canon, and theirs has long been a cult
following. Similarly to Jeff Beck's mid 70s fusion experiments (did I say
experiments? I meant masterpieces), the musicians in Brand X had too much of a
background in rock to be accepted whole -heartedly by the jazz community (many
of whom only grudgingly accepted jazz legends Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock's
forays into rock and funk, if they indeed accepted them at all). On the other
hand, their improvisation-heavy instrumental music was simply not going to put
them on the pop charts. (In 1979, during the final recording sessions of the
band's initial incarnation, they tried their hand at a couple of actual pop/rock
songs, with actual lyrics, sung by their drummer, Phil, who was actually
becoming a rock star by that time. It resulted in no major hits and merely
watered down their sound.)

Today, it seems that Brand X fans are generally people with decidedly
elastic musical tastes, and choose to find the similarities between genres
rather than the differences. These are people who like Phish and Umphrey's Mcgee
on one hand, Genesis and Yes on another, and Weather Report and Return to
Forever on their third hand (and yes, all Brand X fans have three hands. It's a
strange phenomenon). These are people who value good music, made my good
musicians on real instruments, while possessing a deep musical curiosity and longer attention spans
than most. They're out there; I've met them.

Playing a handful of dates in intimate venues, this tour
seems very much to be a gift for their old fans. The band has not yet made it
clear whether this is a warm up for a larger scale comeback, which perhaps
would be accompanied by development of new material and a more extensive
drawing from their back catalog. I certainly hope that this will be the case. I
would like to see this line-up gel and continue to explore new music, but with
the same spirit as their classic incarnations, and find itself with an all new
fan base. In any event, this short tour will give people a chance to rediscover
what made Brand X great in the first place.

Brand X will be playing at Iridium in New York City on
October 27th and 28th. For more information and tickets
visit theiridium.com.